In the Santa
Ynez Valley, we cruised past wineries as the HEMI’s
multi-displacement system switched off half the V-8’s cylinders
to save fuel until we needed power for accelerating and passing. A “fuel
saver” message appeared in the R/T’s trip computer when the
engine was running in V-4 mode. Chrysler says MDS works up to about 70
mph.

The R/T
has a console mounted shifter that can be manually shifted up or down
by pushing the lever left or right once it’s in the drive
position. Downshifts took slightly more time to execute than upshifts
as the transmission checked to make sure it wouldn’t redline after
changing gears.

The bucket
seats were very comfortable in the R/T. Considering how poor the seats
could be in the old Ram during long-distance drives, the new seats
are almost as big a breakthrough as the improved ride from the rear
suspension.

The trip
computer mounted in between the gauges in the instrument panel provided
a lot of useful information, from average fuel economy to transmission
and oil temperatures and range until empty. The R/T also had an optional
6.5-inch navigation display. While friendly and an improvement over
the old nav system, it’s too small. A GPS
display should be at least 8 inches in a full-size pickup.

Another
gripe -- the RamBox storage option isn’t available on
the regular cab Ram. RamBox only comes in the Crew Cab’s 5-foot,
7-inch box, not the 6-foot, 4 inch one found on our R/T.

Passing
real-world Dodge truck owners in small towns, the little red truck
caught many of their eyes. It also caught the attention of the California
Highway Patrol, who cited us for exceeding local laws governing vehicle
velocity. We’ll keep quiet about our forward momentum rating
until we plead our case before a judge. On the bright side, we’ll
be framing the first (but likely not the last) speeding
ticket for the
Ram R/T.

During our
approximately 75-mile drive in the Ram R/T we averaged 15.2 mpg, according
to the trip computer. Not great, but not bad for an aggressively geared
half-ton with a hopped-up torque converter, which we exercised heavily
several times.

Dodge Ram Laramie Crew Cab 4x4, 1,000-Pound Payload

Next,
we planted ourselves in a 5.7-liter HEMI Laramie Crew Cab short box 4x4
with 20 50-pound bags of horse feed in the bed.The crew cab configuration
is new for 2009, replacing the 2008 Mega Cab version that never sold
large numbers in the half-ton segment. The Mega Cab option continues
to be available for the 2009 Dodge Ram heavy-duty pickups.

While the
rear coil-spring suspension won’t misbehave on the road,
the single-stage spirals showed the vertical strain of 1,000 pounds of
payload, letting the back end sag noticeably (see picture). The weight
in the cargo box was still 640 pounds shy of this configuration’s
maximum 1,640-pound payload capacity.